Imam Mahdi Bray, center, executive director of the Muslim American Society, speaks at a news conference in front of the proposed Islamic center and mosque site near ground zero, Monday, Sept. 20, 2010, in New York. A number of local and national American Muslim leaders spoke at the site to support efforts to build an Islamic center at 51 Park Place.

NEW YORK — Leaders of prominent U.S. Muslim groups called Monday for a national week of interfaith dialogue to combat religious intolerance and said they support the right to build a controversial Islamic mosque near ground zero.

“We stand for the constitutional right of Muslims, and Americans of all faiths, to build houses of worship anywhere in our nation as allowed by local laws and regulations,” the Muslim leaders said in a statement delivered at the site of the proposed Islamic center and mosque, to be called Park51.

They called for a “week of dialogue” on the weekend of Oct. 22-24, during which Muslims would conduct open houses at their places of worship to help ease tensions.

“We ask Muslims to open mosques nationwide to welcome people, to let them understand the Islamic faith and what American Muslim community is,” said Nihad Awad, national executive director of the Council on Islamic-American Relations. “We also urge Muslims to visit places of worship in other faith communities.”

The Muslim leaders spoke after a day-long summit meeting Sunday. The 20 groups participating in the summit included the Council on Islamic-American Relations and the Islamic Society of North America, the two best-known U.S. Muslim groups, as well as the Islamic Circle of North America and the Muslim Alliance in North America.

Neither the developer of the Islamic center nor its imam attended the news conference, although developer Sharif El-Gamal attended the summit. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf welcomed the Muslim leaders’ support in a statement.

“I welcome the support of the Islamic Leadership Council for the Cordoba Initiative’s plans to proceed with a community center in lower Manhattan, which has attracted such broad national and global attention,” Rauf said. “On a day when American Muslim leaders stand strongly in favor of protecting civil rights, and denouncing bigotry in all forms, it is important to remember that worldwide efforts to foster peace must begin in our home communities.” He added, “We must insist on going forward with causes that we know will further peace between all peoples.”

Summit organizers said Rauf did not attend Sunday because of security concerns.

Park51’s proposed location, two blocks from the World Trade Center site, has upset some relatives of Sept. 11 victims and led to angry demands that it be moved. Critics say the site of mass murder by Islamic extremists is no place for an Islamic institution.

Republicans including Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich have denounced plans for the mosque.

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